Why You Need The Common Witch Hazel Plant; To Buy, To Gift And To Use.

Common Witch Hazel is a medicinal bush native to North America which has often been used medicinally. Look how beautiful the leaves are with yellow and red coloring and hair like leaves just asking to be braided.

What is Common Witch Hazel?

Native Americans have used Witch Hazel medicinally for ailments such as skin irritations, tumors, and other nasty skin conditions. It’s a wonderful plant, with a history of use and widely known for its benefits. The Native Americans were able to take the plant, boil it and decoct it in order to use it medicinally. Decoction is a fancy term for boiling plants or plant matter in order to extract their medicinal properties and chemicals. This method is commonly used in herbalism, especially my favorite Chinese herbalism where many of the herbal formulas must be decocted for use.

Common Witch Hazel Uses:

So what if you decide to get a Common Witch Hazel bush for your outdoor garden, or maybe try a go at container gardening? How can you use this magical bush? Here are some common uses for the Common Witch Hazel:

Astringent:

Witch Hazel has been used for skin conditions for a very long time. It’s multi-use and can help remove excess oil from the skin and shrink down pores. It’s ability to do so comes from the concentrations of tanins. Use it like you would a normal astringent cleanser, but you go to bed knowing this is natural and safe.

Shrink Swollen Veins

Another cool aspect of Witch Hazel is its ability to shrink swollen or varicose veins! It is able to decrease blood pressure in the swollen veins as well as seal off slow leaks in blood vessels. It’s an amazing medicinal herb to have in your cabinet for different emergencies, even varicose vein emergencies. Wrap a piece of cloth which is soaked in Witch Hazel around the affected area and place the leg in a horizontal position. All you need is around 30 minutes and the powerful astringent aspect of the Witch Hazel with shrink the vein and relieve any achiness or throbbing associated.

Stops Bleeding

Do you have Hemorrhoids? Witch Hazel also helps those suffering from annoying bulging blood vessels like Hemorrhoids by shrinking the bulging vessels and relieving blood pressure. Apply daily for relief.

If you are bleeding, place the plant on the affected area as soon as possible, as it is more effective the sooner it can be applied to the injurious area. It will work very quickly if applied immediately.

Eases a Sore Throat

Witch Hazel is able to ease a sore throat due to its astringent properties. Make a nice herbal tea, or gargle the tea to reduce swelling, dry up mucus and ease pain. This is a great and easy way to use your bushes!

Dandruff

Really! You can even use Witch Hazel to help with dandruff. Oh, the dreaded dandruff that makes great snow for all your pieces of art.

Keep a bottle of Witch Hazel in your bathroom and spray on your scalp before showering and then wash out the herbs in your shower. It works so well that you will have to get other sources of snow.

Bruise Remedy

As stated before, Witch Hazel does a glorious job of dealing with blood vessels, and will help the area heal faster and fade discoloration sooner. Apply with a cotton ball to the affected area and you’ll notice a difference.

Where to buy Witch Hazel

If you are going to buy a Witch Hazel bush, buy it here at Mountain Rose Herb Company out of Oregon. Great customer service, and will answer any and all questions you have. They take great care of you and only give you the best quality plants and herbs.

How to grow your Witch Hazel

You can grow your new plant in a container garden, if you so choose. For the apartment dwellers out there, if you don’t have a backyard to plant your tree, you are free and able to go the container route. In fact, these bushes do great in containers and with little care. When plants and shrubs are grown in containers, their growth is curtailed.

However, you must make sure the container is LARGE. Large containers may be more expensive, but they will be hardier to harsh conditions and will grow much better indoor plants. 16 inches across to 16 inches deep will be good.

If in a container, place it in a sunny area outside (if weather permits). This plant can tolerate shady conditions, but make sure that it does get sun. If outside, make sure no strong winds hurt the bush as it can cause breakage of the branches.

Witch Hazel is actually its best during the winter months, when it truly shines. They will bloom forth in the fall and winter, adding a colorful hue to the dark and dreary colors of winter.

Pruning: Prune your witch hazel right after flowering in the late winter or early spring—you can use a pruning saw or shears. You’ll want to prune back the previous season’s growth on each branch to the second leaf bud (these will be long and narrow).

Witch Hazel is an amazing plant and a wonderful medicinal herb. If you are attempting an indoor garden, as well as something with medicinal value, I highly suggest growing Witch Hazel. If you’re going to grow out your green thumb, you might as well create an herbal pharmacy while you’re at it.

If you want to learn how to turn Witch Hazel from a plant into a medicinal resource, follow my link here. This post explains how to make your bush into a useful homemade tool.

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After finishing her masters degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Michelle wanted to share her love of plants and all things medicinal. With her knowledge of Chinese herbs and household plants, she decided to create a site sharing her love of indoor plants.